Heritage Hills: Bankruptcy court rules HardKohr lease invalid

The York County-based hospitality business operating under the Heritage Hills name said a bankruptcy court has ruled that a tenant fitness business's lease no longer is valid and that the business must evacuate, according to a Heritage Hills statement.

The fitness business, formally Yorktowne Racquet & Fitness Club Inc., had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and the bankruptcy court now has found the club in violation of its agreement with Heritage Hills, said Steven Carr, who represents Heritage Hills in the bankruptcy proceedings.

A ruling in York County Court previously had rejected the fitness business's right to buy under an agreement. A Pennsylvania Superior Court ruling later reversed that decision, but a purchase did not occur, Carr said.

Yorktowne -- or HardKohr Sports & Fitness, according to its website -- had financing in place after the court ruling to acquire the property, but one of the parties responsible for providing that funding backed out, causing a deal to fall apart, said the business's attorney, Craig Diehl.

The York County Court of Common Pleas had set a deadline of earlier this month for a deposit toward the purchase, which was not met; that set up the bankruptcy court ruling, Diehl said.

The four years this case has spent in litigation began after Jim Kohr agreed to buy the business from its previous owner, who was late on a lease payment to the property's owners, Diehl said.

Upon acquiring the business itself, such as equipment and the membership list, Kohr attempted to exercise an option to buy but Heritage Hills returned the check, he said.

Heritage Hills is honoring fitness and tennis memberships at HardKohr through the end of the month and is working out details for what will happen past that point, spokeswoman Melissa Beaverson said.

The business also is extending an offer to parents of children enrolled in HardKohr's summer camp for the children to join the Kidz Camp at Heritage Hills, she said.